Sword Apocalypse Online
Chapter 10
"We have completed the Guild quest!" Thinker declared.
"GOD that sucked," Yuiler sighed dramatically.
"Well, yes," Thinker agreed.
It already looked like there was going to be a rush on people forming guilds too. They had just done it, The Dragon Knights had finished, Fuurinkaan, Klein's group, and several more were also working on it.
Frankly, Thinker wasn't happy about it. He had been hoping they could organize the majority of players in a single large group. Everyone working together and sharing resources would, in theory, help them clear levels faster.
"There there," Yuiler noted, "all we have to do is demonstrate our Guild is more efficient. Then the others will join up."
Silica, their aide and a knife fighter, noted, "You DO realize Lightning Asuna is going to form a guild and poach all the awesome players?'
Both Thinker and Yuiler sighed at that.
"Also, isn't Aincrad Liberation Army a dumb name?" Silica said innocently as she drove the knife home.
"Ouch," Thinker winced.
"Please don't do my boyfriend ego damage like that," Yuiler chided.
"Sorry, boss," Silica shrugged. "And really, Dragon Knights is nearly as bad," she added, trying to be comforting.
"Stop trying to help," Thinker said wryly.
Silica just chuckled.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"So, we want to take advantage of the NPC blacksmiths?" Aiko asked, the heavy sword user looking at Argo thoughtfully.
"Yes, they're exceptionally good," Argo said, "especially for creating new weapons." She paused, "No offense, Liz."
Lizbeth nodded as she said, "None taken. I know I'm not high enough level yet to create high level weapons."
Like with fighters, the blacksmith class leveled up their abilities through use. So to start with Liz had barely been able to just maintain weapons, and had not acquired the ability to upgrade until fairly recently. Creating high level weapons was a long way away.
"And all of us have upgraded our existing swords to the max," Asuna agreed.
"There's also no 'failure' option, unlike with upgrades," Argo added.
It hadn't happened with Liz yet, thankfully, but it was possible to 'fail' a digital dice throw on an upgrade. That permanently removed the 'upgrade slot' that was tried, making the weapon ultimately less powerful. And as it was random, it could happen to any blacksmith.
"And everyone has enough materials?" Yuuki double checked. With that, they went to the village blacksmiths.
All of them took turns with the blacksmiths, and each put their old weapons into the materials. Yes, they could have re-sold the fully upgraded weapons, but Asuka felt there was a symbolic value in reforging them. Hammers clanged, metal was reshaped, and soon they all had new weapons.
Argo was studying the new blades with an odd look on her face.
"What?" Asuna asked, a bit concerned.
"No, no, it's good news," Argo said, "all the new weapons have maximum upgrade slots. They could last us several floors." All of them had gotten between ten and fifteen upgrade slots. The average for a good weapon on this floor was eight...
"Did that happen in the Beta Test?" Aiko asked curiously.
"Not all the time," Argo admitted, "and no, I don't know what that means."
"Huh," Yuuki nodded.
They met with Kizmel after that, and the group sat down with the elves for breakfast. It was porridge and fruit, but was reasonably filling.
"Will you assist us with another mission?" Kizmel asked once they finished.
"I...," Asuna started.
"Huh," Argo paused. "I just got a message from a contact. There's a meeting in Zumfut to discuss tackling the dungeon."
"Isn't that a little fast?" Aiko asked, surprised.
Argo shrugged.
"We should probably attend, if only to pour cold water over them," Yuuki suggested.
"Our missions can wait," Kizmel agreed. "Would you like me to transport you nearby via one of our charms?" she offered.
Asuna was tempted, but travelling between the village and town would give them a chance to level grind a bit. Plus they might get a lucky random drop."No, I'm sure we can manage," she told her.
Kizmel looked a bit disappointed, but nodded.
The group left the camp, heading out into the forest. Before it was out of sight they checked their maps, relieved to see 'Dark Elf Village' marked there.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"This whole meeting was an attempt to recruit for your guilds?!" Aiko barked, sounding offended.
Lind, head of the Dragon Knights, and Thinker of the Aincrad Liberation Army both looked profoundly sheepish.
"We're just trying to organize," Lind defended himself.
"Oh, come on," Agil the huge axe user scoffed.
Yuuki looked at the others. "WE," she emphasized, "are forming a guild with Asuna-sama. We're willing to work with you, but will not be your underlings."
"Of course, of course," Thinker said, not wanting to piss the ladies off. Especially since they had the knowledable Argo with them.
"How serious were you about tackling the dungeon soon?" Asuka asked pointedly.
"Somewhat?" Lind admitted.
"We've only just started the Elf War campaign on this floor, plus there are a lot of quests in general to do," Argo pointed out. She added, "And we learned about the extra boss last floor from quests, remember."
Thinker nodded, "Point. I don't know anyone else who's running the Elf War quest, could you finish up the parts on this floor, in case it's needed?"
Asuna nodded, "Certainly."
Weirdly Asuna heard a sigh of relief, even though there was no one beside her. 'It couldn't be?' she thought.
The meeting ended shortly, and Asuna and her group headed off.
"Kizmel?" Asuna asked quietly.
"You sensed me?" the dark elf's voice came from midair. "My cloak is charmed for invisibility, how did you find me?"
"I heard you," Asuna noted. 'How did a NPC get into a player town?' she wondered.
"I was concerned with how you were so quickly called away," Kizmel added.
They left the town, and Kizmel removed the hood of her cloak, becoming visible again to everyone's surprise.
"NPCs shouldn't be able to DO that," Argo muttered.
At this point, everyone just kind of ignored that.
"Okay, we're continuing to help you, Kizmel," Asuna said briskly, "let's head back to camp, then continue from there."
"My people appreciate your help," Kizmel agreed, her gaze lingering on Asuna.
"Another added to the harem," Aiko murmured.
"Shut up," Asuna muttered back.
Kizmel tilted her head to the side. "Any marriage would need permission from the Queen," she said, sounding just a bit regretful.
Yuuki had the faintest look of jealousy, then shook herself.
They worked together to finish stages of the quest. 'The Flower Offering' was a sombre one, as they gathered tributes to the fallen scout. They then went on a second operation to rescue a lost scout, successfully this time, only to discover it was an enemy elf in disguise.
"At least we stopped him from stealing the Jade Key," Aiko noted.
"He usually succeeded in the Beta," Argo noted softly.
"Huh. Interesting," Yuuki noted.
Kizmel returned to the tent after reporting to the commander, "We will assemble to hunt the spy. Will you join us?"
"We're in," Asuna agreed, "we said we'd help, after all."
"Indeed," Kizmel smiled warmly at her.
To be continued...
Notes: I may get details on canon SAO wrong. It should be noted I haven't got all the tie in materials, etc etc. So if something's off, just assume this is an 'alternate' SAO. Or something.
On one hand trying to follow 'Progressive' while on the other doing it different.
